Thermal flux (i.e., the movement of thermal energy) through and/or around a device can change how the device functions. That is, the presence of thermal energy outside of expected constraints can cause devices to malfunction and/or operate beyond tolerances. For example, excessive thermal energy can cause connections to fail, can cause semiconductor components to fail, and so on. Moreover, in the instance of silicon photonic components such as waveguides, for example, thermal flux can correlate with changes in a response of the particular photonic components to light propagated therein. That is, in some instances, changes in temperature can cause changes in a refractive index of the component, an efficiency of the component at transmitting light, and so on. Accordingly, in circumstances where the components are expected to provide light with particular characteristics (e.g., phase), the presence of thermal flux can affect the characteristics and thereby cause difficulties. Moreover, when components that generate thermal energy are located proximate to temperature sensitive components, unintended secondary effects can be experienced through the propagation of heat from those components. Consequently, preventing thermal crossover to temperature sensitive components can be a difficult task.